Patent Law Practice Center

Innovation Focus: Cisco Pursues Telepresence Technologies

Cisco Systems, Inc. of San Jose, CA, is a corporation that is heavily involved with designing and manufacturing networking equipment along with other information technologies. A new inventory of products for Cisco’s Unified Computing System server business has many speculating that the company is trying to build a stronger base in enterprise server computing solutions. Cisco is seeking to develop systems for modernizing various areas of our country’s infrastructure, including a smart system called Connected Rail with applications for railroad transportation. The corporation has also recently announced an expansion of its partnership with open source developer Red Hat for development of the OpenStack system for deploying private cloud services.

In 2013, the company’s 885 patents issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office placed it 40th among all patenting entities for that year. Occasionally, we look at applications filed and patents issued for these top patenting companies, and as with any look at Cisco, you will find that research and development operations are still strong this year. Many of Cisco’s recent inventions have focuses on technologies for online meetings and teleconferencing for long-distance business conversations.

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Tentative FDA Approval for Oral Pediatric HIV Treatment

Mylan Inc. recently announced that its subsidiary Mylan Laboratories Limited has received tentative approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its New Drug Applications (NDAs) for two dosages of abacavir/lamivudine tablets for oral suspension for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in pediatric patients. The FDA’s tentative approval through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which is a U.S. Government initiative to help save the lives of those suffering from HIV/AIDS around the world, means the formulations meet all of the agency’s quality, safety and efficacy standards. Mylan’s products are expected to be eligible for purchase in early 2015.

The tentative approval follows a 2012 agreement between Mylan, Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) and ViiV Healthcare to transfer the necessary technology and resources to facilitate regulatory authority submission, production and distribution of the new formulation, at low cost, to a total of 115 resource-limited countries including all low-middle  income, least-developed countries and sub-Saharan Africa.

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On the Record with Sherry Knowles

I recently had an opportunity to speak with Sherry Knowles (pictured left) on the record. Most in the patent community are familiar with Knowles as the former Senior Vice-President of GlaxoSmithKline who took on the United States Patent and Trademark Office during the claims and continuations fight back in 2007 and 2008.

In 2008, Managing IP magazine named Knowles one of the top 10 most influential people in Intellectual Property, and  in 2010, the New Jersey Intellectual Property Lawyers Association awarded her the Jefferson Medal for exceptional contribution to Intellectual Property. In November 2011, Intellectual Asset Management magazine listed Knowles among the top 50 individuals, companies and institutions that shaped the IP marketplace over the preceding eight years.

Knowles left GSK several years ago and is now the head of her own strategic patent consulting firm. I caught up with her for a telephone interview on November 20, 2014. What appears below are several of the highlights of our conversation.

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Samsung Pursues Alternative Energy Innovations

Periodically, we take a look at some innovative companies on IPWatchdog.com as a part of what we call the Companies We Follow series.

Recently, when reviewing the latest published patent applications and issued patents for Samsung, we stumbled across a number of innovations that broadly relate to alternative energy solutions.There are many issues to be solved by engineers in the energy sector, from fossil fuel-based pollution to dwindling energy resources. Samsung has made commitments to alternative energy projects all over the world, including a sizable financing project for a 180-megawatt wind farm to be built in Kincardine, Canada. Samsung’s sustainable, low-cost alternative energies is even supporting the development of digital villages in Africa.

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CAFC Issues Non-Precedential Claim Construction with a Dissent

The Federal Circuit recently issued a non-precedential opinion in Vehicle IP, LLC v. AT&T Mobility, LLC. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this decision was that it was a non-precedential opinion with a dissent, which to some extent seems a bit contradictory.

The tale begins back on December 31, 2009, when Vehicle IP filed a patent infringement action against the Appellees in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. The patent infringement lawsuit asserted that Appellees infringed U.S. Patent No. 5,987,377 (“the ’377 patent”). On December 12, 2011, the district court issued an order construing the disputed claim terms of the ’377 patent, including “expected time of arrival” and “way point(s).” The district court construed “expected time of arrival” as “time of day at which the vehicle is expected to arrive somewhere (and not remaining travel time).” The district court construed “way point(s)” as “intermediate point(s) on the way to the final destination (and not the final destination itself).”

After the district court construed the claims, Appellees filed two motions for summary judgment. The district court granted both motions. On April 19, 2013, the district court entered judgment in favor of Appellees. Vehicle IP appealed the entry of judgment, challenging the district court’s claim constructions and summary judgment rulings.

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